Impact of HR factors on employee attitudes: an empirical analysis of a sample of ISO14001 EMS companies in Malaysia

Abstract

Empirical research addressing employee attitudes as it relates to the implementation of an EMS/ISO14001 is currently lacking. The aim of this paper is to extend previous research by proposing and testing an integrative research model which links several HR factors to employee attitudes’. The HR factors identified include management commitment, empowerment, feedback and review, and rewards. In this study employee attitudes refer to job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Four hundred and seventy two middle and lower level employees in five multiple manufacturing companies currently certified to ISO 14001 were the focus of this exploratory empirical investigation. In addition four of these companies are winners of the Malaysian Prime Minister’s Hibiscus Award (PMHA), Malaysia’s premier private sector environmental award for business and industry. In the final data analysis two hundred and twenty three survey responses were analyzed using SPSS version 16. The research hypotheses were assessed by the multiple linear regression analysis. The results indicate that management commitment and empowerment were positively and significantly linked to employee attitudes. In addition a significant positive relationship was observed between feedback and review, and job satisfaction. Specifically management commitment was the most pivotal HR factor in fostering employee attitudes. From the survey results, some lessons are drawn for managers in effort to maximize employee motivation for successful EMS/ISO14001 implementation. The study contributes to the growing body of literature on environmental management in newly industrialized countries such as Malaysia.